


Under the Clouds of War

by antonomasia09



Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Angst, Collection: Purimgifts Extras, Gen, General Leia Organa - Freeform, Introspection, Mentioned Poe Dameron, Pre-Star Wars: The Force Awakens
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-18
Updated: 2019-03-18
Packaged: 2019-11-23 10:45:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 441
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18150833
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/antonomasia09/pseuds/antonomasia09
Summary: Leia in yet another bunker, in yet another war.





	Under the Clouds of War

**Author's Note:**

  * For [crossingwinter](https://archiveofourown.org/users/crossingwinter/gifts).



> Happy Purim crossingwinter! I hope you enjoy!

There’s a special kind of horror being in an underground bunker while a battle is raging above you. A frantic, trapped energy with no outlet, the helplessness of having your fate in the hands of fragile, mortal soldiers. It’s a feeling that Leia thought she’d never experience again, after the defeat of the Empire.

She has one ear out, always, for the boom that will signal a breach of the heavy blast doors. It’s a paranoia that has stuck with her ever since Darth Vader boarded her ship when she was nineteen, and one that she thinks she’ll never manage to shake.

Leia built a Republic from the ground up. She gathered the remains of the Senate in a light, airy room on Naboo, and hammered out intergalactic laws and treaties. There were protocols put in place, formal agreements made, all to prevent history from repeating.

And yet, here she is on a moon so small it doesn’t even have a name, hiding beneath bedrock, while up on the surface the First Order slaughters the soldiers that dared to resist their takeover of the galaxy.

Shara Bey’s son is up there. When Leia had made her speech to the Republic Senate condemning the First Order’s actions and urging the Republic to take action, Poe had been one of the first volunteers. “It’s in my blood,” he’d told her, with a cocky grin.

She can’t think about the possibility of Poe’s blood soaking into the dirt above her head. She can barely bring herself to look at the displays monitoring the life signs of her fleet of fighters. Too many have gone red already. Too many people who had followed her here, believing she’ll pull off another miracle like she did during the last war. Their deaths are on her conscience, and every maneuver she orders them to make is a calculation with an unbearable price tag. 

There’s a whoop on the comms, and she forces herself to listen. Poe has pulled off some insane, impossible feat of flying, and has forced the First Order ships to retreat. Leia doesn’t slump with relief in front of other people, but she does allow herself a small sigh as the remaining Resistance pilots signal their return to base.

This isn’t the end. Tomorrow, a week from now, a year, she will be doing it all over again. The First Order will attack, and she will send good people out to die while she looks at flickering lights and estimates how much oxygen is in the base in the event of a life support failure. But for now, she smiles and welcomes her soldiers home.

[](https://www.flickr.com/photos/139058875@N02/46490498165/in/dateposted-public/)


End file.
